In recent years, optical recording media such as CDs (Compact Disc) and DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc) have been widely used as recording media for recording large volumes of digital data. In particular, optical recording media capable of data recording by users have been rapidly popularized. The use of recordable optical recording media enables the simple and inexpensive storage of digital data of large file size, such as picture data and music data. Therefore, the recordable recording media are used by many users. The popularization of such types of optical recording media has increased the demand for manufacture of an original optical recording medium in which a print is provided on a surface (referred to as a “label surface” hereinafter) opposite to a light incidence surface by a printer. Optical recording media capable of realizing the manufacture of original recording media have already been developed and sold.
Such optical recording media include ink-receiving layers provided on the label surfaces, for fixing ink. The ink-receiving layers can be supplied with ink by an ink-jet printer to provide a print on the label surfaces.
However, printability of optical recording media is generally lower than that of glossy paper. There is thus the problem of failing to sufficiently utilize the performance of an ink jet printer capable of high-quality printing. In order to solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-237103 proposes an optical recording medium comprising an ink-receiving layer having surface roughness decreased to a predetermined value or less.
In order to decrease the surface roughness of the ink-receiving layer, it is thought to be desirable for the ink-receiving layer to be formed by a spin coating method. In this case, the surface roughness of the ink-receiving layer is influenced by an underlying layer. Even if a coating solution for achieving a smooth surface is selected, the surface roughness of the formed ink-receiving layer is not necessarily decreased. There is thus the problem of failing to achieve high printability.
When the ink-receiving layer is formed by the spin coating method as described above, it is not necessarily easy to decrease the surface roughness.